Author Archives: admin

Kazakh city plans light railway

MAY 16 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – China Railway Group has signed a deal with the Kazakh government to build a light railway network around Astana ahead of the city’s high-profile EXPO- 2017, media reported. The light railway will be 22km long and have 18 stations. Kazakhstan is spending heavily on EXPO-2017.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 232, published on May 20 2015)

Tajik electricity deal signed with EBRD

MAY 18 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has signed a deal with the Tajik government to help it update and modernise its power network. The agreement is part of general modernisation linked to the CASA-1000 deal that will see Tajikistan export electricity to Pakistan.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 232, published on May 20 2015)

Athletes challenge Kazakh gay laws

MAY 16 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – In a potentially damaging hit to Kazakhstan’s hopes of hosting the 2022 Winter Olympic Games, 27 current or former Olympic athletes wrote to the International Olympic Committee to ask it to pressure the Kazakh government into ditching a new law that bans so-called gay propaganda.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 232, published on May 20 2015)

Slow price rise in Armenia

MAY 20 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Consumer prices in Armenia rose by 5% in the first four months of the year, media reported quoting the National Statistics Agency. This rise represented a steady, but not alarming, price inflation.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 232, published on May 20 2015)

Fire destroys block in Azerbaijani city

MAY 19 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – A fire ripped through a 16-storey apartment block in Baku killing at least 15 people and injuring 41 more. The fire highlights the often poor building practices in many Baku apartment blocks.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 232, published on May 20 2015)

Kyrgyz tourism boost

MAY 18 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The number of Western tourists travelling to Kyrgyzstan has increased from 57,000 in 2013 to 86,000 last year, media quoted Kyrgyz government officials as saying. Officials said the introduction of a visa-free regime in 2012 had helped increase numbers.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 232, published on May 20 2015)

Investment rise in Turkmen gas

MAY 20 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – At an energy conference, Suleymanmurad Guladov, a senior Turkmen energy official, said the government expected foreign investors to pump $3b into looking for gas reserves on its Caspian Sea shelf, Reuters reported. This is a rise from the $2.5b invested last year, Mr Guladov said.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 232, published on May 20 2015)

Tajik government stops issuing tourist visas to Badakhshan

MAY 15 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Tajik government has stopped issuing tourist visas to its southern Badakhshan Province because of increased fighting along its border with Afghanistan, the Dushanbe-based ASIA-Plus website reported. Badakhshan has been the scene of intermittent anti- government protests.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 232, published on May 20 2015)

Uzbek foreign minister travelled to Brussels

MAY 18 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbek foreign minister Suleymanmurad Guladov travelled to Brussels to meet EU officials, including Maros Sefcovi, the European Commission vice president in charge of energy policy. While no deals were signed, the meeting is a reminder of the growing relationship between Europe and Central Asia over energy.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 232, published on May 20 2015)

Tajik police chief reported missing

MAY 12 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – One of Tajikistan’s most senior police chiefs has gone missing, Radio Free Europe/Radio liberty reported. Gulmurod Halimov, commander of the interior ministry’s special forces unit OMON, has not been seen since leaving home in Dushanbe on April 23.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 231, published on May 13 2015)